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fawnsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Utopia PR by Adam Bender - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Listened to the ARC of the Audiobook on May 5th and 6th. Special thanks to NetGalley for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.
Summary
Blake Hamner (the 'n' is silent and he will tell you) helped the Leader with his political campaign for president. Currently, he is the Crisis Communications Manager of this Leader/President/King. Utopia PR is a dystopian novel about Blake, who tries to navigate his career and marriage while working for an increasingly authoritarian president.
Writing - 7/10 ⭐️
The writing itself might be the best part of the novel. It's clear why Bender is an award-winning journalist, as his texts are easy to understand and are filled with jokes. However, decent or even good writing cannot quite make up for an undeveloped plot and lack of personality in characters. I would have given an 8 for writing but had to distract one point for the narrator here. Tristan Wright's voice sounds Blake well enough, but I'm not convinced that's a good thing and would have preferred a more likable voice.
Pace - 5/10 ⭐️
The plot did not really start until halfway through the book, so where it started out slow, everything then happened really fast.
Plot - 5/10⭐️
Due to the story being relatively short and the plot not starting until about halfway through, there was not much of a plot. The characters weren't fleshed out and so it felt like a lot of things were rather random, rather than well thought out. I feel like the author could have made the book a lot better with just a bit more details.
Characters - 5/10 ⭐️
The main character, Blake, is completely unlikeable. If this man managed to land a wife like Maria and is considered a 'PR extraordinaire', I worry about what an average man would be like in the novel's universe. As a PR man, he always has something to say, unless it's banter with his wife, a prominent news anchor. Not only is Blake pretty boring, he is also unfriendly. To the point of forgetting the interns' name for most of the story. I believe her name is Victoria, but I've seen so many different names for her, I'm not even sure. Victoria, who becomes a relatively important character, also has a very poorly explored arc, and neither she nor Blake seems to have any motives for their actions.
Enjoyability - 7/10⭐️
Since I don't read a lot of books like this, it was definitely an interesting read/listen. The story was simple enough, despite its topic, to not require a lot of focus. I got through most of the audiobook over the course of one afternoon, while going through my chores. I preferred listening to this over listening to my music or watching a show.
Listened to the ARC of the Audiobook on May 5th and 6th. Special thanks to NetGalley for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.
Summary
Blake Hamner (the 'n' is silent and he will tell you) helped the Leader with his political campaign for president. Currently, he is the Crisis Communications Manager of this Leader/President/King. Utopia PR is a dystopian novel about Blake, who tries to navigate his career and marriage while working for an increasingly authoritarian president.
Writing - 7/10 ⭐️
The writing itself might be the best part of the novel. It's clear why Bender is an award-winning journalist, as his texts are easy to understand and are filled with jokes. However, decent or even good writing cannot quite make up for an undeveloped plot and lack of personality in characters. I would have given an 8 for writing but had to distract one point for the narrator here. Tristan Wright's voice sounds Blake well enough, but I'm not convinced that's a good thing and would have preferred a more likable voice.
Pace - 5/10 ⭐️
The plot did not really start until halfway through the book, so where it started out slow, everything then happened really fast.
Plot - 5/10⭐️
Due to the story being relatively short and the plot not starting until about halfway through, there was not much of a plot. The characters weren't fleshed out and so it felt like a lot of things were rather random, rather than well thought out. I feel like the author could have made the book a lot better with just a bit more details.
Characters - 5/10 ⭐️
The main character, Blake, is completely unlikeable. If this man managed to land a wife like Maria and is considered a 'PR extraordinaire', I worry about what an average man would be like in the novel's universe. As a PR man, he always has something to say, unless it's banter with his wife, a prominent news anchor. Not only is Blake pretty boring, he is also unfriendly. To the point of forgetting the interns' name for most of the story. I believe her name is Victoria, but I've seen so many different names for her, I'm not even sure. Victoria, who becomes a relatively important character, also has a very poorly explored arc, and neither she nor Blake seems to have any motives for their actions.
Enjoyability - 7/10⭐️
Since I don't read a lot of books like this, it was definitely an interesting read/listen. The story was simple enough, despite its topic, to not require a lot of focus. I got through most of the audiobook over the course of one afternoon, while going through my chores. I preferred listening to this over listening to my music or watching a show.
lpazienza26's review
4.0
Received this as part of a giveaway in exchange for an honest review- I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It was silly and absurd, but also very compelling. While the ultimate twists were predictable, I enjoyed the characters and the spins they were trying to make.
solaceinliterature's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
coldsoup's review against another edition
4.0
This audiobook was a fun listen! It centers Blake Hamner, a worker part of his authoritan president's PR team, though it becomes clear that crisis management should be a better job description. Along with his job, he struggles to maintain his relationship with his wife. The cast of characters is diverse and dynamic. The satirical tone strikes the perfect balance between seriousness and goofiness'. It is a bit written in the first degree, it doesn't have some very deep criticisms the topics.
I also find lots of the passages written about female characters often feel very "Men Writing Women".
In general, it is a fun listen, but it is not a particularly innovative and original book.
I also find lots of the passages written about female characters often feel very "Men Writing Women".
In general, it is a fun listen, but it is not a particularly innovative and original book.
clacksee's review
DNF at 10%
Seems well written but, my gosh, it’s too close to reality. Maybe I’ll revisit when I don’t live in a country run by a raging narcissist.
Seems well written but, my gosh, it’s too close to reality. Maybe I’ll revisit when I don’t live in a country run by a raging narcissist.
cmorris2022's review
4.0
So, have you read "1984?"
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to listen to the audiobook prior to publication. Goodness, this was a journey. I felt the first 45 minutes were slow and I questioned if I wanted to finish. However, buckle up! We're taken on quite the ride through PR Crisis Manager Blake Hamner (n is silent). There exist oh-so-many parallels to today's political landscape I sometimes wondered if I was reading a non-fiction current or soon-to-happen account of our government.
If you're a fan of dystopia comedy, Adam Bender better be on your list.
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to listen to the audiobook prior to publication. Goodness, this was a journey. I felt the first 45 minutes were slow and I questioned if I wanted to finish. However, buckle up! We're taken on quite the ride through PR Crisis Manager Blake Hamner (n is silent). There exist oh-so-many parallels to today's political landscape I sometimes wondered if I was reading a non-fiction current or soon-to-happen account of our government.
If you're a fan of dystopia comedy, Adam Bender better be on your list.
orasmis's review against another edition
4.0
*Free copy of audiobook was provided in exchange for an honest review*
Blake Hamner is the crisis management leader for Our Leader, current president of the United States. His job is to deal with the multiple crisis and situations caused by the increasingly mad and totalitarian president. An attack on the press team by one of the presidents robotic guard dogs had left him shaken and unsure of his job and a new revolutionary leader has accused him of covering up Our Leader disappearing his rivals/people that don’t agree with him. With him seeming to be trapped in his job, how will he spin this to come out on top and save his reputation?
This is a dark comedy and a biting satire of the American political system, the media, PR teams in general, and the Trump presidency and office. There are many many obvious jabs at how he behaved in office and how he handled actual crisis. The portrayal of Our Leader was an amazing piece of writing and he might be my favorite character in the story. This is a futuristic and over the top setting (technology has advanced very differently in this world than the real world) but it’s very well fleshed out. You really feel for Hamner as he struggled from crisis to crisis and desperately tried to stay afloat and fix everything. He makes a multitude of wrong choices but you can tell he’s trying. There are several dramatic plot twists to the end and I 100% didn’t see how everything was resolved coming. This is a nail biting exciting ride from start to finish.
Recommend this for fans of dark comedy, satire, political satire, and political fiction.
Blake Hamner is the crisis management leader for Our Leader, current president of the United States. His job is to deal with the multiple crisis and situations caused by the increasingly mad and totalitarian president. An attack on the press team by one of the presidents robotic guard dogs had left him shaken and unsure of his job and a new revolutionary leader has accused him of covering up Our Leader disappearing his rivals/people that don’t agree with him. With him seeming to be trapped in his job, how will he spin this to come out on top and save his reputation?
This is a dark comedy and a biting satire of the American political system, the media, PR teams in general, and the Trump presidency and office. There are many many obvious jabs at how he behaved in office and how he handled actual crisis. The portrayal of Our Leader was an amazing piece of writing and he might be my favorite character in the story. This is a futuristic and over the top setting (technology has advanced very differently in this world than the real world) but it’s very well fleshed out. You really feel for Hamner as he struggled from crisis to crisis and desperately tried to stay afloat and fix everything. He makes a multitude of wrong choices but you can tell he’s trying. There are several dramatic plot twists to the end and I 100% didn’t see how everything was resolved coming. This is a nail biting exciting ride from start to finish.
Recommend this for fans of dark comedy, satire, political satire, and political fiction.
mermahoney's review
2.0
DNF at 31%
I'm kind of interested in where this is going, but I don't like the writing and I don't care about any of the characters, so I'm going to move on.
I'm kind of interested in where this is going, but I don't like the writing and I don't care about any of the characters, so I'm going to move on.
silenttardis's review
5.0
Actually when I chose to review this title I didn’t knew much about it, and you know what, is not about a utopia, in reality this is kind of the dystopian world that is all around us, when I listened to the audiobook, I related the president with my own first minister (Antonio Costa), please don’t think that the only country that have problems with their rulers is America, actually Antonio Costa when first went to power, he didn’t win the elections, he just embraced the left and that made him rise to power, he has family or have given money to almost all the Portuguese media, therefore, no one dares to speak against him, or against the PS.
The story of this book is really cleaver, it tackles the view of the PR, the real responsible s for who changes the view of the public, even a bad situation can be seen positively if someone controls what the public seems or understands. Hamner (the n is silent hahah that is almost a joke in the whole book) and his wife maria, they are both likeable characters, they just worked too much and didn’t put their lives first and during the audiobook they are forced to open their eyes and see what is more important.
I enjoyed the person reading the audiobook, he managed to keep things interesting, this book made me think about what is important, how the media throw sand into the eyes of the public and how we the public are easily distracted of what is important.
I highly recommend this audiobook, is worth of our time for sure, I got a free copy of the audiobook in NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.
The story of this book is really cleaver, it tackles the view of the PR, the real responsible s for who changes the view of the public, even a bad situation can be seen positively if someone controls what the public seems or understands. Hamner (the n is silent hahah that is almost a joke in the whole book) and his wife maria, they are both likeable characters, they just worked too much and didn’t put their lives first and during the audiobook they are forced to open their eyes and see what is more important.
I enjoyed the person reading the audiobook, he managed to keep things interesting, this book made me think about what is important, how the media throw sand into the eyes of the public and how we the public are easily distracted of what is important.
I highly recommend this audiobook, is worth of our time for sure, I got a free copy of the audiobook in NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.
amac_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Blake Hamner is great at what he does. But his job isn’t great for his life outside of work. As the Crisis Communications Manager for the president, his job is to spin stories that keep Our Leader looking great and his opposition looking like fools. This is easier said than done. Blake’s wife is a news anchor, so they have a rule that they don’t talk about work. But this means that they don’t have much to talk about, and they find themselves drifting further apart. Can Blake keep up the demands of his work and still have a happy, fulfilling marriage? Or will the steel hound get him first?
I don’t normally read works like this, but I found myself enjoying it immensely. The author has a way with words that is extremely entertaining. It was perfect for this light science fiction and dystopian setting. I was expecting the work to be a bit more science fiction heavy, but the focus was on the political aspect of the setting and a related social commentary.
While I didn’t find myself becoming drawn into the characters, they were well written overall. They had unique personalities and voices with relatable and varying motivations. The career versus marriage aspect of the story added some believable tension to the work as well.
I listened to the audiobook version of this book. The narrator was an excellent choice. His voice was perfect for relaying Hamner’s point of view, and while the voices weren’t extremely varied, there was enough difference to tell characters apart.
This was an enjoyable work of satire. The situations were often quite humorous, but sometimes I found myself thinking they were a little closer to truth than I wanted them to be. If you enjoy satire, social commentary, humorous dystopia, or light science fiction, this book is for you.
I received a complimentary copy of this work through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
I don’t normally read works like this, but I found myself enjoying it immensely. The author has a way with words that is extremely entertaining. It was perfect for this light science fiction and dystopian setting. I was expecting the work to be a bit more science fiction heavy, but the focus was on the political aspect of the setting and a related social commentary.
While I didn’t find myself becoming drawn into the characters, they were well written overall. They had unique personalities and voices with relatable and varying motivations. The career versus marriage aspect of the story added some believable tension to the work as well.
I listened to the audiobook version of this book. The narrator was an excellent choice. His voice was perfect for relaying Hamner’s point of view, and while the voices weren’t extremely varied, there was enough difference to tell characters apart.
This was an enjoyable work of satire. The situations were often quite humorous, but sometimes I found myself thinking they were a little closer to truth than I wanted them to be. If you enjoy satire, social commentary, humorous dystopia, or light science fiction, this book is for you.
I received a complimentary copy of this work through NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.